Briquetting machine



March 15, 1938. v r R. w. DINZL I 2,110,972

' BRIQUETTING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR RICHARD W Dmz| JZA ZGZ AT ORNEY March 15, 1938. R, w. D mzL 2,110,912

BRIQUETTING MACHINE Filed March 18/ 1937 s Sh'et-Sheet 2 INVENTOR EICHHBD W. Dmzz.

March 15, 1933.

R: W. DINZL -\BRIQUETTING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 a gig IIIIIIIIIIIIIII" III.

. I Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIE BRIQUETTING MACHINE tion of Delaware Application March 18, 1937, Serial No. 131,593

17 Claims.

It is one object of my invention to provide an improved hydraulic briquetting machine which is relatively simple and comparatively inexpensive 5 in construction, maintenance and operation, and yet has all of the desired qualities of speed and maximum compressing action combined with ruggedness, durability, compactness and ease of handling as well as accessibility of parts. The

machine herein disclosed is especially applicable for briquetting metal shavings although its principles of operation and construction may be used for other materials.

A further object is to provide an improved control system for a briquetting machine whereby an improved predetermined sequence of operations may be effected with ease, positiveness and dispatch together with minimum wear and tear on the machine.

3 Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved machine;

5 Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the main ram taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2a. is a vertical section of the other end of the machine forming a continuation of Fig. 2 and taken substantially on the line 20-41: of Fig. 1;

l Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2a to show the hydraulic stripping cylinders and plungers;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation viewed 111 the direction of arrow 5 in Fig. 2a.;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic outline of the piping diagram and control mechanism for the various press elements;

Fig. 7 is a modified arrangement of air operating pullback cylinders for the plunger and mold casings.

In the particular embodiments oi the invention such as are disclosed herein for the purpose of illustrating certain specific forms among possible others that the invention might take in practice, I have shown a press comprising, Fig. 3, a cast base 6 having two parallel hollow portions 1 and 8 connected by a suitable integral transverse web 9. Located at the left end of base 6 in'abutting 5 relation thereto is a main operating cylinder structure generally indicated at in while the other end of the base has a stationary platen i1, Figs. 1 and 2a. The main cylinder structure has four ears generally indicated at 12, two at the hot- 10 tom and two at the top, and platen H has similar ears generally indicated at l3. The platen and main cylinder are secured to base 6 by longitudinal tie rods i4 extending through the lower set of cars and the hollow portions 1 and 8 thereby to hold the cylinder and platen in firm abutting relation to the base. A similar set of rods i5 extend through the upper set of ears and also tln-ough a pair of rugged spacer members it andi1 interposed between the upper ears l2 and 13. Thus the cylinder and platen are firmly held in a very rugged manner against distortion in any direction due to the relatively large size of the hollow spacing columns'l, 8, l6 and i1.

Disposed within cylinder I0 is a maximum load ram 20 which is hollow to form a cylinder 2! for a stationary low load ram 22. This latter ram has a rod in threaded engagement 23 with a plate 24 which is bolted as at 25 to the closed end of cylinder l 0. A suitable collar 26 is formed on the end of the ram to receive fluid pressure operating connections one of which communicates with a passage 21 leading to an operating chamber 28 and the other of. which leads by a passage 29 to the second operating chamber 30 of the low load cylinder. A suitable packing gland 3i secured to ram 20 is interposed between the latter and ram 22 while another packing gland interposed between ram 20 and cylinder 10 is secured thereto.

Removably supported by the front end of ram 20 is a compressing plunger 33 having an enlarged preferably cylindrical flange 34 held in a suitable recess within ram 20 by a collar 35 bolted or otherwise suitably secured to ram 20. This plunger, Fig. 2a, extends forwardly into telescopic relation with a plunger casing 4| formed as part of a. unitary hopper and mold structure generally indicated at 36. The front end of plunger 33, Fig. 2a, is provided with a removable material engaging portion 31 which has a stem. 38 disposed within a suitable bore of plunger 33. A transversewedge or other suitable transverse key 39 securely holds the parts 33 and 31 together, it being noted, however, that-in the forward position or the plunger casing 4| (which is the positlon shown in Fig. 2a) the main body portion of plunger 33 is disposed well within the bore 43 of easing 4|. This casing is removably secured to the wall 42 of the unit 36.

The unit 36 has a hopper 43 to feed materialinto a laterally accessible material chamber 44 preferably substantially square in plan view, Figs. 1 and 2a. The unit is also mounted for longitudinal reciprocable movement by the provision, Fig. 3, of lateral flanges 45 slidably supported in suitable guideways 46 formed on the upper surfaces of the hollow base portions 1 and 8. Suitable vertical flanges 48 have screws 43 threaded therein for laterally adjusting strips 53 which engage flanges 45 along an inclined guiding surface, certain of the bolts being omitted from Fig. 2a, for purpose of clarity, although their location is indicated by the reference numeral 43 therein.

The forward wall of unit 36 has a mold sleeve or casing 52, Fig. 2a, removably secured thereto by a bolt and keeper ring construction 53. r

A fixed backing wall or mold closing plunger 54 opposed to compressing plunger 33, is preferably adapted to be telescopically received in the bore of mold sleeve 52, and is provided with a preferably circular flange 55 flrrnly held by a collar 56 in a suitable recess within platen II. It will be noted that the bottom 51 of chamber 44 is preferably in alignment with the lowermost portion of the cylindrical plunger bores in casings 4i and 52.

An air cylinder 58, secured to the outside of platen II, has a piston 53 provided with a limit stop flange 53' engageable with a cooperating shoulder in the cylinder. The piston has separable abutting engagement with a diagonal crosshead 60 which is connected by rods 6| and 62 to suitable ears 63 and 64 respectively, Figs. 2a and 3, formed on the outside of the unit 36. The rods are slidably supported in guide lugs 60' on air cylinder 53. Air pressure is maintained in latch arm 8| engaging a groove in the valve stem. Thereupon hydraulic pressure from a suitable pump 63, preferably of any well-known constant speed positive displacement type with manual adjustment of the volume, is supplied through a pipe 34 and a valve 85 which was previously moved to its down position during the preceding cylinder 53 so as to constantly bias unit 36 to the right. To move unit 36 to the left as during a stripping operation, there is provided as shown in Fig. 4 a pair of hydraulically operated rams and cylinders 65 and 66 secured to opposite sides of platen l I. The rams are connected by rods 61 to cars 63, Figs. 3 and 4, secured to the unit structure 36. I

pe n The pumping fluid connections as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 6, and also certain improved functional and structural aspects of the invention, will be more readily apparent from a description of the sequence of operations. In the position of the parts as shown in Fig. 6, the plunger 33 is in its rearmost position and mold casing is in initial telescopic relation with closing plunger 54. Assuming that the press is to be operated through one cycle and then stopped, the normal position of cam follower 13 would be down out of engagement with the cam 15 secured to main ram 20, this disengagement being effected by withdrawal of a wedge member I2 which is shifted by clockwise rotation ofa hand lever I6. Hence to start the press, hand lever 16 is first moved counterclockwise to thrust wedge member I2 between a valve stem 14 and follower I3, thereby causing follower 13 to engage cam 15 and simultaneously move valve stem I4 and its control-valve ll downwardly. With valve II in its down position, air

from any suitable source pipe 11 is admitted in which it is automatically held by a pivotal cycle, to be described later, and held therein by a pivotal latch engaging a valve stem groove. Fluid pressure from valve 35 then passes through pipe 36, valve 33 and a pipe 81 to the small cylinder chamber 28 of the main operating ram. Simultaneously fluid pressure is supplied from the pump through valve 85 and a pipe 88 to the pullback chamber 33 of the main ram mechanism, but due to the larger area of chamber 28, ram 20 will move forwardly pushing briquetting material from chamber, 44, Fig. 2a, into mold 52. As the briquette 3|, Fig. 2a, begins to compress, it oifers increasing resistance to movement of plunger 33 and its ram 20, with consequent increasing pump pressure until finally an automatic pressure responsive valve 83, Fig. 6, opens to admit full pressure from the pump through a pipe 9|! to the large operating end of cylinder 10. This will immediately give to the briquette a final pressing action under a large force. At any time during the compressing action if the frictional resistance between the briquette and the walls of the mold 52 should increase sufiiciently, the mold together with the whole unit 36 will, under the influence of this frictional force, bodily move forward in the direction of movement of the plunger. If this frictional force should not become sufficiently great to effect said bodily movement, the briquette will nevertheless be formed. Such frictionally induced movement is independ-. ent of the air cylinder and piston 58, 53 by virtue of the stop shoulder arrangement 59 limiting outward movement of piston 53 but permitting rod 6| and crosshead 63, Fig. 2a, to move freely to the right away from the now immovable piston 53. During a subsequent stripping operation, however, the crosshead 63 will reengage piston 53 to push the same inwardly against the air pressure therein. In the position of the piston 53 as shown in Fig. 2a, suflicient clearance is left between the mold 52 and retainer collar 56 to permit said frictionally induced movement.

Pressure in the large end of main cylinder i3 is transmitted through a pipe 33 to a pressure responsive piston 34 which raises upon occurrence of a predetermined pressure in the main cylinder 7 ill to engage a link 35, thereby releasing both latches 3i and 85' through stop nuts 36 and a pivotal connection 91 between link 35 and latch 35'. Thereupon both valves 33 and 35 are raised by constant air pressure supplied from any suitupon mold 52 together with the remaining elements of unit 36 is moved to the left, Fig. 2a, thereby stripping the briquette 3| from mold 52, it being understood that compressing plunger 33 at this time is fully within the mold 52 to serve as a stop against which the briquette reacts when pushed out of the mold. The plunger 33, in serving as a stop during the stripping operation, is not necessarily stationary during this operation because when valve 35 is unlatched, the pullback chamber 33 is exhausted, through pipe 33 and port 3501, simultaneously with exhausting of fluid from the smaller main operating cylinder 23 7| 2,1 more through valve 80 and one of its exhaust ports 80a and with exhausting of fluid from main cylinder through the usual passages in valves 80 and I03.

The stripping movement of mold 52 to the left continues until a cam I 00, suitably supported on the unit casing structure 36, engages and depresses a valve m, whereupon air pressure from a suitable source is admitted to the top of servo-motor 98, thereby moving valve 85 to its down position in which it is automatically held by latch 85'. During this latching operation, rod 95 moves freely downwardly through latch 8!, the nuts 96 moving away therefrom to provide a lost motion connection for subsequent operation of latch ill. The stripper cylinders 65 are now opened to exhaust through port 85b of valve 85 and simultaneously pump pressure is admitted from pipe 84 to pipe 88 and pullback cylinder 30, thereby withdrawing plunger 33 to its rearmost position to restart the next cycle of operation. When the stripping operation is complete, briquette 9| falls from the end of mold 52 into any suitable receptacle or conveyor. Also upon release of operating pressure from the stripping cylinder 65, air piston 59 will immediately move the unit 36 to the right until mold 52 has partial telescopic engagement with backing plunger 56 preparatory for the next compressing operation. The extent of initial telescopic engagement with mold closing plunger 54 is determined by engagement of piston stop 59' with its cooperating shoulder on cylinder 58. Simultaneously with supply of pump pressure to the pullback cylinder, pump pressure is supplied through pipe 86 to a pipe I02 (valve' 83 now being in its upper position) to raise a pilot piston of a filling check valve I03 and open the same to allow free flow of fluid from cylinder lllpast filling valve I03, as previously mentioned, to a pipe HM and a filling tank I 05, thereby facilitating rapid return of compressing plunger 33.

To effect continuous automatic operation, wedge member 12 is allowed to remain in the position shown so that when compressing plunger 33 is fully returned, cam I5, suitably carried by ram 20, engages follower 13 to depress valve H and admit fluid pressure to pipe I8 and servomotor 19 to. move valve 80 downwardly, thereby to connect control pipe I02 to exhaust pipe 80b with consequent reclosing of'filling check valve l03. Simultaneously therewith pipe 86* is connected to pipe 81 for supplying pump fluid to small main cylinder 28 thereby to automatically repeat the cycle of operations, all as heretofore disclosed. If it is desired to stop the press when plunger 33 is withdrawn, handle I6 is moved clockwise to remove wedge 12 from between valve stem 14 and follower '13, thereby preventing cam I depressing valve H which will be consequently held in its upper position by a springor other suitable biasing means. With the valve H in its upper position, pipe 18 is connected to exhaust I09, thereby allowing valve 80 to be held in its upper exhaust position by the. constant pressure below servo piston I9.

Fig. 7 mOdiflcatiom-Jn this arrangement, air cylinders HG are suitably supported upon any stationary part of the press frame such as the lower spacer members I and 8 while pistons III are providedwith suitable shoulders H2 to limit the extent of outward movement. The pistons have abutting engagement with any suitable portion of the untary structure 36 to normally bias the same to the right to effect closure of the mold by plunger 54. The plunger casing and mold unit 36 is adapted, however, to be moved further to the right under the influence of frictional contact between the briquette and the walls of the mold, entirely independently of pistons HI whose flanges 2 limit the action of the pistons. It will be understood that these air operated pullback piston and cylinders take the place of the single pullback cylinder 58 in the preferred form shown in Fig. 2a together with the elimination of the side rods SI and 62 and crosshead 60 thereby providing a more compact 'machine.

From the disclosure herein it is seen that I have provided a briquetting machine that is relatively simple and economical in construction, operation and maintenance and is adapted to effectively compress a briquette with a minimum number of parts and operating movements thereof. It is also seen that my improved combined compressing plunger casing and mold casing with a laterally accessible material chamber therebetween, insures not only a rugged and simplified structure but also one in which the various elements are positively maintained in alignment at all times. The spacing members between the stationary platen and cylinder structure provide an extraordinarily rigid base support upon which the unitary hopper and casing structure 36 may be effectively longitudinally guided. These various advantages are coupled with my improved hydraulic operating means and the control-system for effecting a predetermined sequence of operations with minimum loss of time and with maximum effectiveness.

It will of course be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, an opposed mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a laterally accessible material receiving chamber between the same, means for eifecting relative telescopic movement between said closing plunger and mold casing to close the latter, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger forwardly through said material chamber and into said mold to form and compressya briquette, and hydraulically actuated means for rearwardly moving said mold casing to effect a stripping action by having the briquette bear against the compressing plunger, said means for effecting relative movement between the mold casing and mold closing plunger,

including means for bodily moving said unitar structure to efiect said closing relation.

2. A briquetting maching comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, an opposed mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a terial chamber and into said mold to form and compress a briquette, hydraulically actuated means for rearwardly moving said mold casing to effect a stripping action by having the briquette bear against the compressing plunger, and means for supporting said mold closing plunger in a stationary position at all times, while the means for effecting relative movement between the mold casing and closing plunger includes means for bodily moving said unitary structure to effect said closing relation.

3. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, an opposed mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a laterally accessible material receiving chamber between the same, means for eflecting relative movement between said closing plunger and mold casing to bring the same into initial telescopic relation, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger forwardly through said material chamberand into said mold to form and compress a briquette, and hydraulically actuated means for rearwardly moving said mold casing to effect a stripping action by having the briquette bear against the compressing plunger, said mold casing and closing plunger having provision to allow further telescopic movement induced by frictional contact between the briquette and mold during compressing of the briquette by the compressing plunger.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 further characterized in that said means for initially effecting relative telescopic movement between the mold casing and its closing plunger includes air operated piston and cylinder mechanism.

5. The combination set forth in claim 3 further characterized in that said means for initially efiecting relative telescopic movement between the mold casing and its closing plunger includes air operated piston and cylinder mechanism, and means for limiting the extent of operation of said air operated mechanism thereby to establish said initial degree of telescopic relation.

6. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a stationary mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a material chamber between the same, means for moving said unitary structure toward said mold closing plunger so that the same is telescopically received in said mold casing to close the same, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger forwardly through said material chamber and into said mold casing to form and compress a briquette, hydraulically actuated means for moving said unitary structurerearwardly to effect a stripping action by having the briquette react against said compressing plunger, and means whereby said compressing plunger is initially moved rearwardly at a slower rate than the movement of said unitary structure.

7. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a stationary mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a material chamber between. the same, means for moving said unitary structure forwardly to telescopically receive said closing plung er and thereby close said mold casing, means for moving said compressing plunger through said material space and into said mold casing to form and compress a briquette, means for mow ing said unitary structure rearwardly to efiec't is stripping action by having the briquette react against the compressing plunger, and means for initially moving said compressing plunger rearwardly during said stripping action but at a slower rate 01 movement than that or said unitary structure.

8. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a stationary mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a material chamber between the same, means for moving said unitary structure forwardly to close said mold casing by its closing plunger, means for moving said compressing plunger through said material space and into said mold casing to form and compress a briquette, means for moving said unitary structure rearwardly to effect a stripping action by having the briquette react against the compressing plunger, and means for initially moving said compressing plunger rearwardly during said stripping action but at a slower rate of movement than that of said unitary structure and after the stripping action is completed to efiect a relatively rapid rate of rearward movement oi. the compressing plunger.

9. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a stationary mold closing plunger, a unitary structure havin a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a material chamber between the same, air actuated means for moving said unitary structure forwardly to close said mold casing by its closing plunger, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger through said material chamber and into said mold casing to form and compress a briquette, hydraulically operated pullback mechanism for said compressing plunger, hydraulic means for moving said unitary structure rearwardly upon a completion of a compressing operation thereby to effect a stripping action by having the briquette react against the compressing plunger, and means for relieving hydraulic pressure in said hydraulically actuated means and in said pullback mechanism during said stripping operation.

10. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a stationary mold closing plunger, a unitary structure having a compressing plunger casing and a mold casing with a material chamber between the same, air actuated means for moving said unitary structure forwardly to close said mold casing by its closing plunger, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger through said material chamber and into said mold casing to form and compress a briquette, hydraulically operated pullback mechanism for said compressing plunger, hydraulic means for moving said unitary structure rearwardly upon a completion of a compressing operation thereby to efiect a stripping action by having the briquette react against the compressing plunger, means for relieving hydraulic pressure in said hydraulically actuated means and in said pullback mechanism during said stripping operation, and means for supplying operating fluid to said pullback mechanism substantially upon completion of the stripping operation thereby to eiiect rapid withdrawal of the compressing plunger to its original starting position.

11. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a casing therefor, an opposed mold closing plunger, a mold casing therefor, means forming a material chamber between said casings, means for efiecting relative movement between said closing plunger and mold casing to close the latter, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger forwardly through said material chamber and into said mold to form and compress a briquette, hydraulically actuated means for moving said mold casing rearwardly to strip a briquette therefrom, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger to its rearward position, and hydraulic control means for eilecting a predetermined sequence of operations of all of said actuated elements so as to form and compress the brlquette, initially relieve the compressing force on the brlquette and then strip the same and return the elements to their original starting position.

12. The combination set forth in claim 11 further characterized in that the means for eifecting relative closing movement between the mold casing and its closing plunger comprises a constantly operative biasing means. e

13. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a casing therefor, an opposed mold closing plunger, a mold casing therefor, means forming a material chamber between said casings, means for effecting relative movement between said closing plunger and mold casing to close the latter, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger forwardly through said material chamber and into said mold to form and compress a briquette, hy draulically actuated means for moving said mold casing to strip a briquette therefrom, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger to, its rearward position, hydraulic control means for ellecting a predetermined sequence of operations .of all of said actuated elements so as to form and compress the briquette, strip the same and return the elements to their original starting position, and means for automatically repeating the cycle of operations when all of the elements are returned to their original starting position.

14. The combination set forth in claim 11 further characterized by the provision of means for automatically repeating the cycle of operations when all of the elements are returned to their original starting position, or for efiecting only a single cycle.

15. The combination set forth in claim 11 further characterized by the provision of a constantly operating pump for supplying fluid pressure to all of the hydraulically actuated means, including connections between the hydraulic control means and said pump.

16. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a compressing plunger, a casing therefor, an opposed mold closing plunger, a mold casing therefor, means forming a material chamber between said casings, means for effecting relative movement between said closing plunger and mold casing to close the latter, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger forwardly through said material chamber and into said mold to form and compress a briquette, hydraulically actuated means for moving said mold casing to strip a briquette therefrom, hydraulically actuated means for moving said compressing plunger to its rearward position, hydraulic control means for eflecting a predetermined sequence of operations of all of said actuated elements so as to form and compressthe briquette, strip the same and return the elements to their original starting position, said hydraulic actuating means for the compressing plunger including a main cylinder and a hollow ram therein, a stationary ram disposed within said hollow ram, means whereby said compressing plunger is initially moved forwardly by fluid pressure supplied to said hollow ram, and means responsive to a predetermined pressure in said hollow ram for automatically supplying fluid pressure to said main cylinder to effect a final movement of the compressing plunger.

' 17. A briquetting machine comprising, in combination, a horizontal base structure, a stationary platen secured to one end thereof, a main operating cylinder and ram mechanism secured to the other end of said base, a compressing plunger actuated from said main cylinder, an opposed mold closing plunger supported by said stationary 

